The Melivia Chronicles: Saving Me
by Melivia
Summary: "Olivia, I know you're in there. I saw your car in the parking garage and I'm not leaving until you open the door."


I own nothing. The characters belong to L&O: SVU

Pairing: Olivia/Melinda

"**Saving Me"**

Olivia was lying on her couch crying her eyes out over Calvin. She kept replaying that scene in her head when Vivian came in the precinct and took Calvin away from her. She had bonded with Calvin and for a few weeks he made her feel whole, complete, feel like a mother and now that feeling is gone. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and a familiar voice.

"Olivia" the voice said.

"_Damn"_ Olivia thought to herself, _"How does she know where I live?"_

The lady knocks again and again. "Olivia, I know you're in there. I saw your car in the parking garage and I'm not leaving until you open the door."

Olivia gets up from the couch and dries her tears before opening the door. "Fine it's open. Now, could you please leave? It's not a good time, Melinda."

"I know…Fin told me what happened with Calvin" Melinda says.

"Fin" Olivia said "How did he find out?"

"Elliot told him"

"I guess everyone knows by now, he could never keep his mouth shut" Olivia says, as she walks back to the couch and sits down.

Melinda takes a seat on the couch next to Olivia. "Hey, Fin called me because he was worried about you. He asked if I could come over and try cheering you up."

"Well it's not going to work and why did he call you?" Olivia said, as she went into the kitchen and poured herself a drink of Crown Royal mixed with coke.

"Because I'm a mother" Melinda replied. "He said the guys at the precinct wouldn't understand and that a mother would."

Truth is Fin was the only one who knew Melinda was divorced and had been for over two years now. He also knew Melinda like Olivia but was too afraid to ask her out.

Olivia walks back to the couch with the drink in her left hand and the bottle of Crown Royal in her right hand. She takes a seat next to Melinda.

"So, are you going to drown her tears in alcohol? Or you want to talk about it?" Melinda asked.

"I don't want to talk about it" Olivia said, and then she held the glass to her mouth and didn't lower the glass until it was emptied.

"Liv…umm…I can call you Liv, right?" asked Melinda.

"Sure, everyone else does" Olivia said sarcastically as she pours herself another drink. Olivia gets up, goes into the kitchen and gets a bowl of ice and another glass. "Here, drink with me" she said, handing Melinda the glass.

Melinda thought this was a bad idea, but she knew if she was going to get Olivia to open up, it was better to join her. Melinda, who never drinks hard liquor, poured herself a drink. "Liv, I can only imagine what was going through your mind earlier tonight when Calvin was taken away from you."

Just the mention of Calvin's name made Olivia's eyes fill with tears. "Mel" Olivia said, "Can I call you Mel?"

"Sure"

Olivia turned to face Melinda. "Mel, it felt like someone sucked the breath from me. I mean, I couldn't breathe and I didn't want to. With Calvin, I felt complete. My life didn't feel meaningless anymore. Although he was in my life for a little while, I started to believe again. I really believed God loved me."

"Oh Liv, God do loves you. Don't ever doubt His love for you" Melinda said.

The two women continued to drink and talk. After two hours had passed by, they were on their second bottle of Crown Royal.

"Well" Olivia said, "It probably wouldn't have worked between the two of us anyway."

"Excuse me" Melinda said.

"You know, me and Calvin"

"Oh" Melinda replied. The alcohol was really starting to have an effect on Melinda's thinking.

"Who did you think I was talking about?" Olivia asked.

"Oh, no one... Why do you think it wouldn't have worked out?"

"I'm a cop, I work all hours and I'm single. And those are the main reasons they turned me down when I tried adopting. Besides, it's hard being a single parent."

"Tell me about it" said Melinda.

"How the hell would you know?" Olivia asked her.

Melinda poured herself snother drink; no ice, no coke, just straight alcohol. She picked up the glass and took a big drink from it.

"Whoa" Olivia said, "You're not going to be able to walk straight if you keep drinking like that."

"_Hell, when I'm next to you I can't think straight" _Melinda thought to herself. She let out a big sigh before answering, "Liv, I'm not married anymore. Richard and I divorced over two years ago."

Olivia couldn't believe it and then again she could. They were friends at work but not close friends, so Melinda could have been divorced all this long time without anyone knowing. They'd all got out for drinks once a month but Melinda pretty much stayed to herself. Olivia knew she confided in Fin a lot and thought maybe Melinda and Fin was having an affair.

"What happened" a curious Olivia asked.

"Richard is a good man and a wonderful father to Ophelia, it's just I was tired of living a lie. The truth is, I never really loved Richard" Melinda said.

"Why did you marry him?"

"To please my parents" replied Melinda. "After two years of marriage I knew I wanted out and I asked him for a divorce"

"Why didn't you divorce him then?" Olivia asked.

"I found out I was pregnant and he wanted to make it work. We stopped having sex when Ophelia was five and divorced when she was nine."

"You mean to tell me, you didn't make love to your husband for four years?" Olivia asked.

"Yes but, I'm pretty sure he found it somewhere else. I found condoms several times in his clothes and drawer. It got so bad we slept in separate bedrooms out last two years together."

"Mel, you never seemed down or depressed at work"

"I know, I told you, I had been living a lie and I wanted out" Melinda said. "Can I be honest with you?" she asked Olivia as she sat the glass down on the table.

"Sure" Olivia said.

"And whatever I say, doesn't leave this apartment" Melinda said looking Olivia in the eyes.

"Mel, you can trust me. I won't tell anyone."

"Okay then, the reason my marriage to Richard fell apart is because I finally had the nerves to face reality"

"Huh" a confused Olivia said, "I don't understand."

"Liv" Melinda said and then sighed before going on, "I'm a lesbian."

"What…no…get out of here" says Olivia, who thought Melinda was joking around.

"Really" Melinda said moving her head up and down. "I'm a lesbian."

"Are you for real?" Olivia asked.

"Yes" Melinda replied.

"But, you were married and you have a kid" Olivia said pouring herself another drink.

"And your gayday is off" Melinda said jokingly as the two women laughed. "I don't regret my marriage to Richard, our union produced a beautiful girl and she's my life" Melinda said, as she goes on and on rambling about her daughter.

As Melinda went on rambling about her eleven year old daughter, Olivia begins to think of Calvin and the day he showed her the picture he drew of her, signing his name, Calvin Benson. Olivia tries to hold back the tears but can't. Melinda turns and sees the tears trailing down Olivia's face.

"Liv, I'm sorry" she says, "I've got such a big mouth."

"It's okay, Mel" Olivia says. "It's just the way you talk about you daughter. My mom never talked about me that way and it doesn't seem like I'll get a chance to talk that way about Calvin. To be honest, I don't think I've ever felt wanted or loved until Calvin came into my life."

Melinda cups Olivia's face with her hands and wipes away Olivia's tears with her thumbs. "You are loved" Melinda softly tells her. Olivia puts her head down and continues crying. Melinda takes her right hand and lifts Olivia's face to hers. "Liv, did you hear me? I said you are loved" as she dries Olivia tears.

"Yeah, right" Olivia said.

Melinda leans over and kisses Olivia softly on the forehead and then their eyes meet each other. Melinda inches slowly towards Olivia's lips. _"If she's going to stop me, this will be the time to do so" _Melinda thought to herself.

"_Should I stop her? What the hell, one kiss isn't going to hurt anyone" _Olivia thought to herself.

The two women lips softly touches each other's, Olivia tenses up and pulls away.

"I'm sorry" Melinda says.

"No, don't be" Olivia replied as she moves in and plants a soft kiss on Melinda's lips. Melinda doesn't respond, "What, you don't like it?" she asks Melinda.

"Yeah I do. I'm just not sure this is what you want" Melinda says. "We've been drinking and you're sad about Calvin. I just don't want you to regret this and I don't want to lose your friendship."

"Mel, will you be quiet and kiss me, please" Olivia says.

Melinda leans in and kisses Olivia, who deepens the kiss. After several minutes of kissing, Olivia breaks the kiss. "Mel, there's something I've gotta tell you."

"What is it?"

"First I want to know if you're dating someone."

"Liv, I wouldn't have my lips all over you if I were dating someone" Melinda replied.

"Okay well, I've liked you for over a year now. I thought you were married still, so I never approached you."

"I see" Melinda said with a curious look in her eyes.

"What is it?" Olivia asked.

"Did Fin know you liked me?"

"Yes, why?" Olivia asked.

"That's why Fin called me. He's the only knew we liked each other and he thought maybe I'd be able to cheer you…."

"Wait, you told Fin, you like me?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, he's known for four years now" Melinda said.

"Wait, hold on a minute. You said, you've only been divorced for a little over two years"

"True. I started developing feeling for you while I was still married to Richard. That's why I filed for divorced."

"Because you liked me?" a wide eye Olivia asked.

"No silly. It was because, I knew I could never feel for a man they way I feel about women. Although it was only work, I really enjoyed being around you."

"Yeah, I like you too. I would always call you out to a case when I knew it was another medical examiner's turn. I like seeing you and love smelling the perfume you wear. Have you noticed how close I've always stood next to you?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah and I loved every bit of it too" Melinda said as the ladies laughed.

"Hey, where's Ophelia tonight?" Olivia asked.

"She's spending the night at my sister's" Melinda said, "Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you didn't mind staying with me for a few hours" Olivia said. "I…I mean, I don't want to have sex. I just would like it if you held me."

"Of course I would" Melinda said.

Olivia stood up, held out her hand and Melinda placed her hand in Olivia's. She led Melinda to the bedroom and the two women got in bed together.

"Mel"

"Yes"

"Thank you"

"What for?"

"For saving me tonight" Olivia says.

Melinda held Olivia tightly in her arms.

"Liv"

"Yes"

"Can, I tell you a secret?"

"Sure Mel, what is it?"

"I'm in love with you"

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Then Olivia broken the bear hug Melinda had on her. She faced Melinda and softly whispered in Melinda's ear, "I also have a secret. I'm in love with you too" Olivia said before passionately kissing Melinda. The two women held each other the rest of the night before drifting off to sleep.


End file.
